“My Brother, He’d Save Me If He Could”

Early drafts for Meng's consort attire vs servant attire

Consort Meng—She and Zheng married very young, when he was still crown prince. I call her Bride of Excellence because it’s cuter than just Consort. She was kept as a high ranking concubine in title because of her connection to Lu Buwei but in reality she had little power in the Rear Palace due to her young age and the Queen Mother’s nature. Historically Qin Shi Huang didn’t have a Queen but I might make Consort Meng the Queen for plot purposes, especially after she gave birth to Fusu. She might also die before Eisei becomes Emperor, we’ll see.

Bride of Excellence → Lady of Beauty → Queen

Consort Xiang—Fun fact, merchants were actually the lowest class, lower farmers, though they had the potential to be much richer, there was actually a ban on merchants wearing silk because other than the nobility they were the only ones who could afford it. All that being said, if the King was consistently sleeping with her (or pretending to) I don’t think Xiang would still be a serving girl. By my best guess she’d be a Senior Waiting Lady (長使; zhǎngshǐ) or a Junior Waiting Lady (少使; shàoshǐ); both were low ranking concubines. Junior Waiting Ladies were actually called the “chief servants of the Imperial Harem” while Senior Waiting Ladies were messengers to the King. By giving birth to a child I have no doubt Xiang’s rank went up, on one hand Rei is a daughter, on the other she’s the first child so… Lady of Gentleness. It may seem odd to rise so quick but Consort Feng and Consort Ban did similar rises by having the first son and having “virtuous conduct and good communication skills” (respectively).

Junior Waiting Ladies → Senior Waiting Lady → Lady of Gentleness

Consort Yang—Potentially strange opinion, I don’t think Yang started as a consort. I think she was a lady-in-waiting for Xiang who later became a consort in her own right. I don’t have any evidence for this save the fact we know she was never sent to visit the King. Also I found it odd that Xiang doesn’t have any ladies, especially after her promotion but I also understand this is probably just because Hara didn’t want to waste time in the Rear Palace. Because of her closeness with Xiang + the fact she’s mentioned to have had a daughter, I’ll give her a title a bit below Xiang’s because it wasn’t the first daughter.

Anyway, Consort Meng's general appearance